Wednesday, May 2, 2007

It's Official...

Today I am a Californian.

New license plate is in hand, registration card is signed, ID picture is taken, smog test passed, Voter Registration card - check.

It's hard for me to part with 'old' things and I didn't want to give up my home state plates when the lady asked me if I wanted to take them off.... (she said she understood)... so for the time being, I will keep them with me for a while longer - like an old picture I can look at every now and again to remind me of where I came from.

For celebration of a new beginning, my friend and I split a Pizookie (a pizza/cookie) for lunch. And to justify the pizookie, we had a salad to make the caloric intake not seem so 'bad' for us. (Kind of like Tuesday Pie Night at Perkins with Funny... ah, old times...)

I got to thinking on the way home from the DMV about life in general and the 'old things' that we want to get rid of, but just can't shake. It may be different for everybody - a bad habit, clothes that you don't wear and hope to fit in again some day, letters and pictures from an old boyfriend or girlfriend (thanks to a friend of mine, those have been burned to ashes :P), old memories that you have a hard time letting go of for whatever reason.

God reminds us that thinking about the past, especially the not so good things, isn't good for us... that's hard to swallow for me because it seems like I have a lot of free time (driving) and I begin to wonder if I would be more fun again if I would act a certain way or do things that I used to do in order to gain friends out here. Or when I have dreams about past people that it isn't because I'm supposed to get in touch with them, but it's a way of trying to dredge up an old thought or behavior pattern that has been laid to rest a long time ago...

Then this popped into my head:

"Neither do men pour new wine into old wineskins. If they do, the skins will burst, the wine will run out and the wineskins will be ruined. No, they pour new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved." - Matthew 9:17

I am reminded that people like me for me - not because I put on a show or act when we're together, but because I truly care about people and now so more than ever... I want to keep these new friends close to me because it's all I have right now. I will always have my 'old' friends but will never have to reconsider giving them up like an old license plate :)

And for the record, I'm tired of people making fun of me for saying 'pop' and 'supper'. I can't help it - it's a dialect - when I think of 'soda', I think of baking soda and how gross it would be to drink it. Pop if fizzy and fun on the palate.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

I will always like you for who you are Big Daddy! You are grounded and have your morals in check. You are an inspiration. You are a pleasure to talk with and can make me laugh on any given day. If you tossed me out like an old license plate I would be crushed!

Missy said...

Marcie you are so refreshing and so funny! I love reading your blog and love living vicariously through you! I admire your strength and stamina for trying something new and being such a fun extrovert!:) Miss seeing your beautiful face around the office. Keep blogging! I love reading about your experiences!

Anonymous said...

You know, I never switched tags. I considered myself a "visitor" the whole year I was out there. It just never seemed like home - more like "just passing through." Don't worry about the accent - can you imagine the response I received out there!!! Come on. I am SOUTHERN, hear me ROAR!!!

Anonymous said...

let's update this a little more often. G C louie